TREEBROTHER
Treebrother was crafted from the scion of a treant and a dryad
Illus. by F. Hooper
Long ago, in the deepest part of an ancient forest where no woodcutter’s steps had ever passed, there lived a treant called Tarnla, who shepherded the primeval trees. One of Tarnla’s trees was home to a dryad, a fair and lovely creature named Nidria, and the two children of the forest fell deeply in love with each other. Together with the human druid Anda, they kept the sacred heart of the forest safe and unspoiled by the depredations of loggers and careless folk. Legends say that Anda’s staff Treebrother was crafted from a sapling resulting from Tarnla and Nidria’s union. (DC 15) At the twilight of his life, Anda was a great hero, revered and respected for many leagues beyond the forest where he dwelt with his friends, the treant Tarnla and the dryad Nidria. Younger druids from across the world traveled to his forest to learn from him, and kings and empresses alike consulted him for his wisdom of the natural world. Despite his fame, Anda had enemies among many peoples, savage and civilized. A combination of raw hatred, terrible greed, and petty jealousy brought down the great druid and destroyed much of his forest home. The orc chieftain Bruug, who had clashed with Anda in his youth, learned his old enemy still lived and sought to avenge himself upon the druid. Marshaling his forces, Bruug struck suddenly and fiercely into the northern marches of Anda’s forest, burning and destroying. Anda, along with Tarnla and Nidria, raced to contain the orcs, but even their combined might couldn’t hold the wicked host at bay. Animal messengers were sent out to the sovereigns whose lands abutted the forest, but jealous and hateful advisors, who saw the woods as a great resource to be exploited if the meddlesome druid were eliminated, convinced many monarchs to withhold their troops.
CHAPTER 3
HISTORY
ITEMS OF LEGACY
Treebrother is a deceptively simple, knotted staff of stout oak. Unpolished and rough, the wood looks freshly cut from the bough of an ancient tree. The staff is thick and sturdy, ideally suited for use either as a walking stick or a quarterstaff. Nonlegacy Game Statistics: Treebrother; Cost 1,100 gp; Charges 50. On command, Treebrother can summon a cloud of bright motes resembling fireflies, creating illumination equivalent to a light spell. Caster level 5th. When you cast barkskin, your caster level is treated as one level higher than normal. Omen: Nature’s power surges through Treebrother, causing plants within 5 feet to open their flowers and bend toward the staff as if it were the sun.
As Anda, Tarnla, and Nidria fell back toward the sacred heart of the forest, they pooled their magic for one last, desperate spell to drive the invaders back. Using Nidria’s sacred oak as the spell’s focus, they conjured forth a vast wave of vines and greenery, swallowing the orc multitude. Their victory came at great cost—the spell’s energy destroyed Nidria’s tree, and the effort of casting it claimed the lives of Anda and Tarnla alike. The dryad survived only thanks to Treebrother, whose magic held enough residues from her oak to sustain her. Grief-stricken, the dryad buried Anda and Tarnla together beneath a sacred mound, atop which she planted Treebrother as a memorial to her fallen comrades. According to legend, the staff and Nidria abide there even now. (DC 18; Sacred Mound) Anda carried Treebrother with him since the days of his youth. Allegedly, the staff was a gift from Tarnla. When Anda was in his middle years, a caravan of dwarves out of the mountainous west came to the eaves of the forest. The dwarven geomancers had divined the presence of great veins of precious ore beneath the forest floor, and their miners entered the wood with picks, axes, and spells to tear away the soil. Anda, upon learning of this horror, gathered his staff and set out to beseech the dwarves to cease their mining, or at least to dig more carefully, so as not to disturb the
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